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Office of Price Administration

(Encyclopedia)Office of Price Administration (OPA), U.S. federal agency in World War II, established to prevent wartime inflation. The OPA issued (Apr., 1942) a general maximum-price regulation that made prices cha...

Whitman, Marcus

(Encyclopedia)Whitman, Marcus, 1802–47, American pioneer and missionary in the Oregon country, b. Federal Hollow (later Rushville), N.Y. In 1836 he left a country medical practice to go West as a missionary for t...

Bowdoin College

(Encyclopedia)Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Maine; coeducational; chartered 1794, opened 1802, named for James Bowdoin. One of the nation's older colleges, its alumni include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth L...

dime novels

(Encyclopedia)dime novels, swift-moving, thrilling novels, mainly about the American Revolution, the frontier period, and the Civil War. The books were first sold in 1860 for 10 cents by the firm of Beadle and Adam...

Lathrop, Rose Hawthorne

(Encyclopedia)Lathrop, Rose Hawthorne, 1851–1926, American nun, philanthropist, and writer; youngest daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In 1871 she married George Parsons Lathrop. In 1891 she and her husband embrac...

Federal Reserve System

(Encyclopedia)Federal Reserve System, central banking system of the United States. Established in 1913, it began to operate in Nov., 1914. Its setup, although somewhat altered since its establishment, particularly ...

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

(Encyclopedia)Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an independent U.S. federal executive agency designed to promote public confidence in banks and to provide insurance coverage for bank deposits up to $250...

Farm Credit Administration

(Encyclopedia)Farm Credit Administration (FCA), an independent agency of the executive branch of the federal government that supervises and regulates the Farm Credit System (FCS) for American agriculture. The Farm ...

Plimer, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Plimer, Andrew, c.1763–1837, English miniature painter. He was an apprentice to Richard Cosway. His fine portraits are to be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the Metropolitan Museum. Hi...

central bank

(Encyclopedia)central bank, financial institution designed to regulate and control the money supply of a nation, with the goal of fostering economic growth without inflation. Although central banking systems have v...